News you can use
News you can use
We tend to like heroes. But Jesus shows us what happens when ordinary people sign up for cross-bearing discipleship. The results are anything but ordinary.
It's an unforgettable photo. The raising of the flag at Iwo Jima. In fact, if you had to pick 10 photographs to tell the story of our country, this one featuring U.S. soldiers lifting up the American flag would be one of them, never mind that it was a posed re-enactment of the real thing. Iwo Jima is a dot in the Pacific where the United States needed a landing strip for bombers striking Japan during World War II. Some 70,000 marines were sent to take it from a dug-in enemy.
"The thing I'll remember forever," recounts retired Major Gen. Fred Haynes, "was the courage and the guts of the kids ... and these were young kids."
They were kids. But also heroes. There are six flag raisers in the photo. The front four are Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley and Harlon Block. The back two are Michael Strank and Rene Gagnon. Strank, Block and Sousley would die shortly afterward. Bradley, Hayes and Gagnon became national heroes within weeks.
What's most amazing is how ordinary each of these heroes was. Mike Strank played the French horn and once slugged a baseball out of Points Stadium in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Harlon Block was an outgoing daredevil with many friends at Weslaco High School in Texas. Franklin Sousley was a red-haired, freckle-faced kid raised on a tobacco farm in Kentucky. Ira Hayes was a Pima Indian from Arizona who was told by his chief to be an "Honorable Warrior" and bring honor upon his family. Rene Gagnon was just a kid from Manchester, New Hampshire, who ended up being the youngest of the survivors. And John Bradley was a Navy corpsman from Wisconsin who "just jumped in to lend a hand." So ordinary. But so heroic.
Heroes consider their uncommon valor to be a common virtue; they see it as a simple duty - nothing that someone else wouldn't have done under the same circumstances. But if heroism is so common, why don't we see more of it?
In the Gospel of Luke chapter 10, Jesus calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things. He appoints 70 average people - people as typical as any one of us, people as ordinary as the 70,000 marines who were sent to Iwo Jima. Their mission is to go in pairs to every town and place where Jesus intends to go, and to do the work of curing the sick, preaching the kingdom and driving out demons.
"I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves," warns Jesus (Luke 10:3). The 70 are facing a "dug-in enemy," like the marines on the beaches of Iwo Jima. Jesus orders them to carry no purse, bag or sandals, and to live off the hospitality of those who will receive them. Their only weapon is the powerful message: "The kingdom of God has come near to you" (v. 9).
Is this a fair fight? It doesn't seem so at first. Jesus is calling for common people to show uncommon valor and to embark on a mission that seems unlikely to succeed. But when these 70 ordinary souls return, they make a surprising report: "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" (v. 17). Speaking and acting in the name of Jesus, the 70 have a power that they never imagined possible. The ordinary virtue of following Jesus suddenly turns into extraordinary heroism, and common disciples discover that they have uncommon abilities. Do we need another hero? Absolutely.
And we shouldn't have to look far to find one, or two, or three. We should be able to find them right in our own churches. Uncommon valor is a common virtue whenever people respond to the call of Christ. Heroism is seen whenever disciples walk in faith and proclaim the kingdom of God. Victory over illness and evil occurs whenever people carry the peace and the power of Christ with them into the world - and this comes not from any inborn human qualities, but from the authority that Jesus gives us "over all the power of the enemy" (v. 19). Amazing things will happen when we step out in faith on a mission from God.
God is always looking for heroes, for people willing to accept the challenge of following Christ. This is never easy, but our church - and our nation - can use a few more heroes. Now, more than ever, we need ordinary people to do the extraordinary work of love and compassion in a world being torn apart by hatred and self-interest. Which of us will be willing to take a stand for God's coming kingdom - a kingdom of love and compassion, healing and hope?
There's nothing idealistic about this, and, in fact, the proclamation of God's kingdom involves more than mere words - it always includes clear and concrete action. At this time of Independence Day celebrations, we would do well to remember that kingdom-building actions have been performed by both our church and our nation throughout history. God's heroes are going to be found right here, if they are going to be found anywhere at all. Found among men and women who respond to the call of Christ. Found among ordinary people willing to take risks and do extraordinary work. Found among folks able to proclaim the kingdom of heaven and extend God's love and compassion to others. Found among people who depend more on divine authority than on human ability, and who rejoice more in God's acceptance than in worldly recognition. It's up to us to be these kinds of heroes, and to make our mark. So, will our story shine like a light? Or end in the dark?
God's Peace,
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Pastor Michael O'Hearn
Hi-Line Lutheran Churches
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